Will these vinyl windows be too close to the range?

Kristen HallockMay 17, 2013

We had planned to get vinyl windows in our kitchen. My husband isnt keen on painting the exterior windows. But someone over in the window forum said that vinyl (PVC) starts breaking down at 280 degrees F, and that vinyl could be damaged from hot grease.

We will have a 36" Bluestar range between these 2 windows. The current plan was to have to windows come down to about 2.5" from the countertop. They will be 8" from the range on either side. Is this too close to the range to consider using vinyl? Do I need to go with wood windows instead? Or is 8" away enough?

6" is much too close for PVC. The paint on wood would probably be damaged as well. I'd want 12" of distance between the burner and any vertical surface that wasn't scorch resistant. Maybe powder coated metal windows could be closer, but I'm not aware of any of those that meet energy guidelines.

Thanks tracie.erin. I will be getting a 36" bluestar in a regular configuration and I've looked and the rear left burner is a simmer burner and the rear right burner is 15,000 BTUs.

It would be very very very seldom that I would have all burners going at the same time. Think like 1x a year if that. plus the back of the range has a small island backsplash that I think makes it sit an inch or 2 from the wall.

And, like you've said I've seen plenty of pictures with windows on the sides of a professional range. So it cant be that bad. And alot of pictures have the windows right next to the range, and my windows will be 8" away.

Vinyl (PVC) windows won't last nearly as long as other materials, so you have to reckon with constant replacement and filling up the landfills -- just out of curiosity's sake, is there a reason you don't want real wooden windows?

Interresting. I never considered this issue with my vinyl windows flanking my rangetop.

The exposed vinyl on my windows are 9.5" from the side of my CC rangetop, which has 23,000 btus on each burner. The exposed vinyl is 6.5" from the counter.

Have you taken into account the depth at which those windows will be installed? My 1971 house had old 4" thick exterior walls so mine are set back 2.5" from the interior drywall. If your house is newer with 6" thick exterior walls, your windows will be set back 4.5" or so from the drywall. Te depth will increase if you add a tile or stone backsplash. I think this measurement matters when looking at this issue. It's not as if the vinyl will be sitting flush with the drywall waiting to catch fire.

I choose vinyl windows for two reasons. Although I would have greatly preferred something better looking, I knew my DH, the world's best procrastinator, would not keep up the regular maintenance on wood windows in our rainy climate. He neglects lots of ther regular house maintenance. The major issue is that my entire house already had existing vinyl windows. Putting in new wood windows didn't make sense for us.

Side note, I mentioned this on another thread. Have you planned where your required outlets will be installed given the flanking windows?

Sort of OT but a sweet alternative to vinyl is the line of fiberglass windows called Marvin Integrity. I am so glad someone recommended those to us when we were window shopping. They have a much better temperature tolerance compared to vinyl, are a breeze to keep clean, and they operate beautifully. We are so impressed!

Breezygirl - Thanks. My house does have 6" exterior walls so I guess I dont think the vinyl will be an issue.

I havent thought about the electrical outlets. I guess I should. We dont have much around here for "codes" - for example there are no makeup air requirements. But a friend of mine has a husband in the same town who is an electrician, so I will ask him.

I've tried looking up electrical code requirements on my town's website but am not finding anything. Are these things usually controlled by the town? I suppose I could put them on either side of the range before the window starts, right? Or would there be a rule about not having them so close to a heat source?